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The Good News of Jesus

02/22/2009 - Handling a Faith Crisis, Mark 6:14-29

This morning we continue our series called The Good News of Jesus...As Told By Mark with a story that has everything. It has power and politics and sex and scandal and violence. It's a horrific story, the kind story that today would be all over the internet and utube and CNN and Dateline NBC. It would be splashed all over the headlines of both newspapers and tabloids alike. If it were a movie it would probably be x-rated. It's the kind salacious story that everybody wants to hear, even though they pretend they don't. And it all happens at a royal birthday party that gets totally out of control.

If you have a Bible please turn with me to Mark 6:14. (Map Slide) Now before we look at the story remember that last week Jesus was rejected in his hometown of Nazareth. So he went around to other villages in Galilee where he was received. And then he sent out his twelve apostles, two by two, to take the kingdom message even further. And he gave them kingdom authority to cast out demons and to heal the sick. They did miracles to authenticate the truth of the gospel message.

And news of all this had reached the palace of King Herod in Tiberias and he didn't like what he was hearing because like every other political figure he was paranoid that someone was out to steal his throne, especially someone who was promoting a kingdom..

Look at verse 14, King Herod heard about this, for Jesus' name had become well known. Some were saying, "John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that is why miraculous powers are at work in him." ¹⁵Others said, "He is Elijah." And still others claimed, "He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of long ago."

As we've seen all through the gospel of Mark nobody could deny the power that was coming out of Jesus. It was obvious to everyone. They couldn't deny it, but they couldn't explain it either. So rumors were flying about where Jesus got his power and theories were developing.

The Pharisee's had gone on record saying, "His power is coming from the devil. It's from Satan himself." But Jesus said, "That's ridiculous! Why would Satan drive out Satan? A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand."

So a lot of people weren't buying into the Pharisee's theory. Some were saying that Jesus was really a souped up John the Baptist raised from the dead. John the Baptist didn't do any miracles when he was alive, but if he's come back from the dead maybe he can now. And besides, Jesus and John the Baptist had the same central message, "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" Maybe Jesus is John the Baptist on steroids! So you had the resurrected John the Baptist theory.

Others were saying, "No, he's not John the Baptist, he's the prophet Elijah." And the Elijah theory had some things going for it too. Unlike John the Baptist, Elijah did do miracles. In fact, one time Elijah even raised a little boy from the dead. And according to the Scriptures Elijah himself never died, he was taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire. And besides that in the last book of the Old Testament the prophet Malachi says that Elijah will come again in Malachi 4:5, See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.

In fact, to this day whenever the Jewish people celebrate the Passover they leave an empty chair and a full glass of wine for Elijah. He is the guest of honor at every Passover Seder. And at one point in the celebration a child will go to the door and throw it open so that Elijah can come in and bring the long awaited news that the Messiah has finally arrived.

Some people thought Jesus was John the Baptist come back to life. Others thought he was Elijah. And still others claimed that he was one of the prophets of old like Jeremiah. Remember for 400 years there had been no prophets in Israel and the people were desperate to hear a word from God. So there were a lot of rumors and theories flying around. And King Herod bought into the John the Baptist theory.

Look at verse 16, But when Herod heard this, he said, "John, whom I beheaded, has been raised from the dead!"

And that freaked Herod out because he thought John the Baptist would come looking for him and he was scared to death. Just the mention of John's name brought back images of that fateful night when he had way too much to drink and made a foolish promise to a teenaged girl who had seduced him into doing something he never wanted to do. And so we flashback to that story.

Look at verse 17, For Herod himself had given orders to have John arrested, and he had him bound and put in prison. He did this because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, whom he had married. ¹⁸For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife." ¹⁹So Herodias nursed a grudge against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to, ²⁰because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard John, he was greatly puzzled; yet he liked to listen to him.

King Herod was married to a woman named Herodias and they were not on the same page when it came to John the Baptist. Herodias wanted to kill him. Herod wanted to protect him. She hated him. He liked him. He respected John the Baptist as a righteous and holy man. He didn't understand everything he said. He found him confusing at times, but he liked to listen to him.

Herodias, on the other hand, couldn't stand John the Baptist because he had the guts to publicly confront their adulterous and illegal marriage. Herod had married Herodias while she was still married to his brother, Philip. So in essence he married his sister-in-law which was against the Levitical Law.

The story goes that Herod had met Herodias in Rome when he was visiting his brother who was a wealthy man, but not a king. And he seduced Herodias by waving a crown in front of her and promising her that she could be a queen if she came back to Palestine to live with him. It was an offer she couldn't refuse. What woman doesn't want to be a queen? So she left Rome with her daughter Salome and married King Herod.

Now this is not Herod the Great who claimed to be the King of the Jews when Jesus was born, the one who built the Temple in Jerusalem and who killed all those innocent baby boys in Bethlehem. He had already died, but not before he married five wives, killed one of them, and then murdered three of his seven sons. In fact, the saying on the street was, "It's better to be Herod's pig (hus) than to be his son (huis)," because Herod didn't kill pigs because he fancied himself as the King of the Jews. And Jews didn't eat pork, but he had no problem killing his own sons. You might say the Herods were a bit of a dysfunctional family!

So the King Herod in this story is a survivor. His name is Herod Antipas and he is one of the four surviving sons of Herod the Great and the ruler of Galilee at this time. But like his father he also wanted to be called the King of the Jews. And that's what upset John the Baptist so much. John was announcing that the real King was on the scene and he was not Herod Antipas and he would never marry his brother's wife because that was strictly forbidden in Scripture. So don't confuse the people!

But his confrontations had incensed Herodias and so she put pressure on Herod to arrest him. "If you really love me, honey, you will throw this disgusting little man in jail!" And so reluctantly he did. He threw John the Baptist into a deep, dark hole in the palace of Machaerus which is way down in desolate area just east of the Dead Sea. And if you remember that's when Jesus thought it best to leave Judea and retreat up to Capernaum as we read in Mark 1:14, After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. Shortly after Jesus' baptism things were already starting to heat up.

But while he's in prison John's faith starts to sag. Day after day, week after week, month after month he wonders in that dark dungeon if Jesus really is the Messiah? "If he came to set the captives free why I am rotting away in jail?" John is going through a faith crisis and sooner or later most of us, if not all of us, will go through our own faith crisis when life doesn't go as we planned and we wonder in the darkness of our doubts, "Is it really true? Is Jesus really the Messiah, the Son of God? Can I trust him with my life? Or have I been duped into believing a lie? And if it is all true, is it worth all this? I thought the road would be easier. Why isn't he answering my prayers?"

That's what John wondered. And so he sent some of his disciples to ask Jesus, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else? I thought you were the Messiah, but now I'm not sure! You're not doing the things I thought you would. Where's the judgment that's supposed to come? How can you let Herod get away with all this?"

And in typical Jesus fashion he doesn't give him a direct answer instead it's more like, "You figure it out!" Go back, Jesus replied in Matthew 11:4-6, and report to John what you hear and see. ⁵The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. ⁶Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.

And then he says something remarkable about John the Baptist in Matthew 11:11, Truly I tell you, among those born of women ¹⁴there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist … and if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. ¹⁵Whoever has ears, let them hear.

This is a great man of God who's wrestling with doubts about the Messiah. Jesus even calls him Elijah. He is the Elijah like figure that Malachi predicted would come four hundred years ago. We're not waiting for Elijah to come and pave the way for Messiah. He's already come according to Jesus. John the Baptist was that Elijah like person who prepared the way of the Lord.

He was one of God's best servants but now he's struggling to believe. Remember that the next time you're having a faith crisis. They can happen to the best of us and they will. But blessed are those who do not stumble on account of Jesus or on account of unmet expectations. It's so easy for us to put words in God's mouth and to hold him to promises that he never made. God didn't promise John the Baptist that he wouldn't pay a price for his commitment to him. And he doesn't promise that to us either. And John does pay a price. He pays the ultimate price.

And the sordid details of the event that has been giving Herod nightmares unfolds in verse 21, Finally the opportune time came. On his birthday Herod gave a banquet for his high officials and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. ²²When the daughter of Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his dinner guests. The king said to the girl, "Ask me for anything you want, and I'll give it to you." ²³And he promised her with an oath, "Whatever you ask I will give you, up to half my kingdom."

Finally, the opportune time came. This was a set up by Herodias. She'd been looking for an opportunity to get even with John the Baptist and had it all planned out. She'd throw a big birthday bash for Herod and invite all his cronies to the castle. And when they got good and drunk she'd send in her daughter to do some sensual, erotic striptease. And she did. And I'm sure it was hot and steamy. And when she sat in the king's lap he said, "Ask me anything and I'll give it to you (hiccup)! Whatever you ask, I'll give you up to half of my kingdom (hiccup)!"

Verse 24, So she went out and said to her mother, "What shall I ask for?" "The head of John the Baptist," she answered.

Herodias didn't have to think twice. She knew exactly what she wanted. This was her chance to silence her number one critic.

Verse 25, At once the girl hurried in to the king with the request: "I want you to give me right now the head of John the Baptist on a platter." ²⁶The king was greatly distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he did not want to refuse her.

Remember, Herod liked John the Baptist. He admired him. He didn't want to throw him in prison in the first place. But now because of his stupid promise made under the influence and because of all these eyes that are watching him to see if he's a man of his word he can't refuse. He can't back down now!

Verse 27, So he immediately sent an executioner with orders to bring John's head. The man went, beheaded John in the prison, ²⁸and brought back his head on a platter. He presented it to the girl, and she gave it to her mother.

And when I read that this week I thought, "That's it? That's the end of John's life? No last words. No recorded speech by this man that Jesus called one of the greatest who ever lived? The executioner's axe comes down on his neck and it's over? His head gets put on a plate and is given to an angry woman! Are you kidding me? What a waste! This great man of God dies at the whim of a teenaged belly dancer, a witch of a mother, and a drunken king! Where is God in that?"

And I don't know the answers to all those questions and I don't think this is how John or anybody thought his life would end. Yet even in the midst of this horrific tragedy God has not been unfaithful to his promises.

Jesus said in his great Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:11-12, Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹²Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

There is more to life than this life. There is heaven and a kingdom that awaits all those who follow Christ. John's greatness in this life will only be enhanced in the next because he paid the ultimate price for following Jesus. You see if we didn't have a kingdom to look forward to, a bigger picture to define our lives, it would be a tragic waste, but great will be his reward in heaven and all those like him who pay a price for following Jesus.

Persecution for our faith is not something we know a whole lot about in this country. But it's real and it happens. There's an article in this month's "Church Around the World" that's in your E & O's about the beheading of a Christian man in the country of Somalia. But persecution is not unique to Christ followers either. Religious persecution happens across the board and it's horrible wherever it exists. Yet for those who do follow Jesus God promises to reward those who suffer for his sake.

The apostle Paul who knew something about suffering for Christ puts it like this in Romans 8:18, I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

And then again in 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

The story ends in verse 29, On hearing of this, John's disciples came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.

That sounds a lot like what will soon happen to Jesus, doesn't it? After his brutal, unjust execution a few of his disciples will come and take his body down off the cross and lay it in a tomb. But it won't stay there will it. Unlike John the Baptist Jesus will rise from the dead and that will change everything.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Valley View Community Church, feel free to contact us at info@valleyviewseek.org or call 610.631.2707.